A five-justice panel delivered the prison term hours after finding Bolsonaro guilty of leading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. One justice voted to acquit.
Bolsonaro’s lawyers called the punishment “absurdly excessive” and said they would file “the appropriate appeals.” The former leader, deemed a flight risk and placed under house arrest, did not attend the final phase of the trial.
Bolsonaro has previously argued the case was designed to block a 2026 presidential run—even though he had already been barred from office on separate charges—and has repeatedly labeled the proceedings a “witch hunt,” according to the BBC.
U.S. President Donald Trump has echoed Bolsonaro’s criticism and imposed 50% tariffs on Brazilian goods, framing them as retaliation for the prosecution.
Reacting to the guilty verdict, Trump said he found it “very surprising” and compared it to his own experience: “That’s very much like they tried to do with me. But they didn’t get away with it at all.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Brazil’s top court had “unjustly ruled to imprison former President Jair Bolsonaro” and threatened to “respond accordingly to this witch hunt.”
Brazil’s foreign ministry replied swiftly on X, saying that “threats like the one made today by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a statement that attacks a Brazilian authority and ignores the facts and the compelling evidence on record, will not intimidate our democracy.”
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Source: BBC, The Guardian, PAP